The Art of Living Consciously: The Power of Awareness to Transform Everyday Life

The Art of Living Consciously was Nathaniel Branden's sixteenth book and, in many respects, remains his most valuable offering.Though Branden favors the phrase "living consciously," with its lack of philosophical baggage, the book is clearly an inspired discussion of what it means to practice the virtue of rationality -- a theme of great value and significance to anyone who understands the tremendous power of the human mind.Dr. Branden's earlier writings on the subject of living consciously, most notably the chapter by that title in The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem, were always from the perspective of its role in building self-esteem. Here, his analysis is considerably deeper and includes, for the first time since his writings from the Sixties, many sojourns into metaphysics and epistemology.Though written for the lay reader, the book's subject matter is to the field of psychology what epistemology is to the field of philosophy, addressing many of its most fundamental questions, such as the interplay among mental health, awareness, and reality.* * *Chapters One and Two present the "first principles" of living consciously and lay the groundwork for Branden's theory by exploring the nature of human consciousness and its proper relationship to reality. Branden's facility in explaining these subjects is inspirational.His discussion is centered around the requirements of developing an appropriate "sense of reality." His analysis includes an explanation of the laws of identity, causality, and non-contradiction, and the role each plays in facilitating consciousness and mental health. From there, he analyzes the various meanings of consciousness, defines and explains the significance of the faculty of reason, and explains why there is no need for conflict between reason and emotion, properly understood.It is unusual to discover such a lucid defense of reason in a book on personal development. "Reason (or rationality) is the faculty that grasps relationships," Branden writes. "It is the faculty that makes distinctions and connections, that abstracts and unites, that differentiates and integrates. Reason generates general principles from concrete facts (induction), applies general principles to concrete facts (deduction), and relates new knowledge and information to our existing context of knowledge. Its guide is the law of noncontradiction" (36). [All page numbers are from the hardcover first edition.]Branden characterizes reason as the highest manifestation of the integrative function inherent in life itself. Reason is the principle of integration made conscious. "The quest of reason -- this can hardly be stated often enough -- is for the noncontradictory integration of experience" (38).Branden finishes laying his theoretical groundwork by discussing the role and importance of free will, including the responsibility each of us bears for maintaining an appropriate level of focus. In such matters, he explains, context determines what mental state is necessary."Generally speaking, it is our actions, values and goals that determine what is the appropriate mind-state in any particular situation" (50). Of course, there may be many reasons for avoiding such mind-states -- fear of responsibility, fear of failure, fear of the truth -- and Branden shows us several of the relevant "avoidance strategies" we use from time to time to pull off such heists.* * *With this theoretical foundation in place, Branden spends the next four chapters elaborating upon what he means by living consciously. Its essence, he explains, is "knowing what we are doing while we are doing it" without losing the wider context. In several key areas -- the realms of work, of relationships, of private experience -- he invites us to ask of ourselves, "What would it mean to live more consciously in this context?"One of Branden's key assumptions in the book is that the reality-orientation he advocates is not inborn. It must be acquired through practice, and the way to do this is not always obvious, even when we accept the desirability of being more conscious.One of the great assets of The Art of Living Consciously is that it walks us through many situations we each encounter in life, each time asking us, "How could we be more conscious in this area? What would it look like? How can we tell when we are doing it right?" We vicariously experience what it means to live more consciously, and we bring that awareness back to our own actions.Many of the topics Branden addresses in his book -- the importance of reason, the commitment to awareness, the problems with evading -- have been discussed before. What makes this discussion unique, however, is Branden's developmental approach. His primary concern here is not defending the validity of his principles per se, but examining the experiences and habits, from childhood on, which affect one's ability to practice the principles. Through stories about himself and his clients, he engages us in a world where the practices leading to consciousness stand in stark relief against those which bury us in unconsciousness.One advantage of this developmental approach is its accessibility to the uninitiated. Presented in this fashion, the theory is more readily understood, because it speaks to people's experience, as well as to their intellect.These very characteristics may cause some readers to have a difficult time with the book. A friend once told me in regard to a Branden book, "I really didn't "get it" until about half way through, when I stopped reading it like an essay or a novel and started reading it as a life-manual."Like his other books, The Art of Living Consciously contains a strong element of material designed to bring the reader nearer to the type of experience Branden is advocating. Through stories, suggested exercises, and discussions, he invites us not just to understand his position, but to enter a state of mind where his principles make a difference in our own life. He does not just describe the good life, he invites us to discover it ourselves.Like many manuals, the impatient will be tempted to skip ahead to the parts they find most immediately relevant. But as Branden says in his afterword, "This book contains doors that sometimes open only at the second or third touch of the handle."* * *Branden's discussion in the first six chapters suggests a certain view of the self, a sort of spirituality of reason. In the seventh, last, chapter he takes up the subject explicitly by raising the questions, "What is the relationship, if any, between living consciously and pursuing a spiritual path? If there is a connection between living consciously and spirituality, where and how does a belief in God fit into the picture -- or does it? What is the relation, if any, between living consciously, spirituality, and the teachings of mysticism?" (178).To avoid the shifting sands that take place in many discussions of spirituality, he begins by addressing the significance of definitions in this context and offers his own definition of spirituality: "pertaining to consciousness and to the needs and development of consciousness." He explains, "Whoever continually strives to achieve a clearer and clearer vision of reality and his or her place in it -- whoever is pulled forward by a passion for clarity -- is, to that extent, leading a spiritual life" (180-1).Seen from this perspective, it is clear that simply attending church every Sunday, accepting uncritically one's parents" values, renouncing the self in favor of some higher authority -- the trappings of conventional "spirituality" -- may actually subvert spiritual growth.All people need a sense of pursuing an important spiritual path, of continually striving for their own development. Obviously, this conception of spirituality does not require, as many people would otherwise assume, a belief in God. Nor does it entail any belief in mysticism, although, Branden notes, it may well entail some of the practices traditionally associated with mystics, such as meditation -- which, he observes, many Westerners are pursuing as a path to "self-understanding, enhanced creativity, a deeper appreciation of what is important in life, a clearer grasp of one's own mental processes, a more profound perception of reality, and the experience of greater serenity" (184).Granting the strong traditional association between spirituality and mysticism, Branden then strongly distinguishes his view of spirituality from that of mysticism -- which he defines as "the claim that there are aspects of existence that can be known by means of a unique cognitive faculty whose judgments are above the authority of sensory observation or reason" (200).After refuting several beliefs advanced today by Eastern mystics, including the ideal of self-transcendence and an argument similar to David Hume's famous argument that self is an illusion, Branden concludes his discussion of the spirituality of reason by examining what happens when we apply the principle of living consciously to the realm of personal values. "What is this book," he asks, "but an attempt to demonstrate that living consciously -- clearly a moral as well as psychological ideal -- is to one's selfish interest?" (213).By providing his readers with both the insight and the inspiration to do the job, Dr. Branden has provided us with an invaluable tool for applying philosophy to life -- and then reaping the rewards.

This is an excellent book that explores the importance of using one's mind. Nathaniel Branden shows the importance of being rational and how one of the most critical components of this is to always stay connected to reality. He provides the philosophical background that supports his views as well as numerous real world examples from his experience as a practicing psychologist.He discussed living consciously from many different aspects, from one's own self-esteem to working relationships, friendships, and romances. He provides concrete examples of the consequences of not utilizing this approach as well as how to plans for sentence completion exercises that will help improve living consciously. Example self help book that is worthwhile reading for anyone!

Branden was still trying to live down to the end of his days his "association" with Ayn Rand (she was his Clinton and he was her Lewinsky). But he did some pretty great practical psychological work after leaving Rand's orbit, most saliently his "sentence stem completion" technique. Most of his later books included sections with sentence stem completions and he explained the art behind the technique well enough that it's not hard to make up personalized stems that address your specific current problems. Along with that, Branden learned from Rand (and she perhaps learned from him too) how to state things with super-sharp clarity.(In short, a sentence stem is a provocative first half of a sentence to which you are to provide half a dozen or more endings as fast as you can record them, with brownie points for how fast you do it and don't stop to think. If you have to finish up the last few endings with nonsense, that's better than overthinking it. You take a particular small set of stems that you fill out every day for a period of time (at least a week); pick the set size based on the time you have every day for this.(Here are a couple of examples, not Branden's, but done more or less according to his guidelines. I picked this topic just now off top of my head because I happen to not have a mother-in-law problem, and I was just talking to her):(One thing I can't stand about my mother-in-law is--(One thing my mother-in-law resents about me is--(Next time I see her, one thing I could do is--(Next time she <disses me about kids/house/etc>, I will say--(One thing I want from her that I don't think she'll ever give me is--(One thing she wants from me that I am withholding is--(Then you find a time to read through your answers over the several previous days and look for insights. Branden does this a lot better than I just did, and I recommend getting at least a few of his books to get familiar with the technique if you want to start mining it on your own.)

Classic book, great read! Theoretical but also practical. Author of writes about fragment exercises you can do which I found interesting

I got into evolutionary psychology as a path to understanding human behavior because it is more based on scientific fact rather than pseudo-intellectual babble. Still, most evolutionary psychology is data based white paper stuff and very difficult to apply it to someone in need of solutions. Mr. Branden somehow understood self-esteem and was able to place it as a core aspect of the human being, and then sort of reverse engineer it to be useful for normal humans. (Right now other scientists believe that humility has a similar affect on existential anxiety, but are still looking for a way to teach one how to be humble.) After going through hundreds of books and many false trails to learn what it means to be human, I feel fortunate to have come across Dr. Branden's works and have tried to purchase every one in book and in Audible form. BTW, he is the narrator of the Audible series.

Just grate.

Not met the expectations.

Very good book by Nathaniel Branden although not as brilliant like his other books which I found more helpful than this one. He seemed to had a go at God and religion in this book more than in any other of his previous books. Although he made some valid points however this is the main thing on which I disagree with him. He is still a genius in psychology nonetheless.

Loved every single page. Very concise and packed full of useful self development information. You can tell he is a professional and not a self development charlatan. Will be buying some of his other books

I've read it and did the exercises many years ago and it was the beginning of many positive changes in my life.